O’s visit Boro in first round of FA Trophy this weekend

Leyton Orient will come up against one of their former coaches when they visit Bostik North side Haringey Borough in the first round of the FA Trophy on Saturday.

Boro boss Tom Loizou worked for the O’s in the mid-1990s and even had a brief spell as caretaker manager alongside Glenn Cockerill following the sacking of co-managers John Sitton and Chris Turner in 1995.

Now, though, Loizou is plotting a way past his former employees as he looks give the Coles Park club an early Christmas present with the scalp of Orient.

“There are a lot of staff and players here with links to Leyton Orient so it’s a nice tie for us,” said Loizou.

“Hopefully on the day, we get that little bit of luck and we upset them.”

Haringey have good form in the cups this term, progressing through three rounds before being knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth qualifying round.

Boro have already come through four qualifying rounds in the FA Trophy just to reach the first round.

They will be keen to add another famous chapter to their cup run this weekend, but Loizou admits injuries have hit his side hard in recent weeks.

“We shouldn’t even be living on the same pitch as Leyton Orient, but I would feel very confident if I had all my players available,” he added,

“At the moment, it’s not looking likely so the game has come at the wrong time for us.

“We’ve worked hard to get to the first round, but the game has come at the wrong time for us.”

The trip to Haringey sees O’s face another game on a 3G pitch, something the east Londoners are unlikely to be looking forward.

Orient have twice played on 3G pitches in the National League this term and lost on both occasions, going down 2-0 at Sutton United and being beaten 6-1 at Bromley.

And Loizou is hoping to make the most of O’s struggles on 3G pitches, saying: “They’ve got an ageing side and I’ve got a young side.

“They don’t like playing on AstroTurf, we should be used to playing on AstroTurf, but we lost our last game at home.”

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